“Grant called me.”
“What?” She frowned. “When?”
Merida spoke in a rush. “Last night your time. You texted and said you were going to bed so I figured I wouldn’t bother you with it then, but I wanted you to know. Girl code and all that.”
“What did he call about?” She asked slowly. She knew it couldn’t be about work or Merida wouldn’t have mentioned it.
“You. He wanted to talk things out, get some ideas for how to show you he really cares.”
“And what did you say?” Melody crossed to the twin bed and sat on the edge.
“I told him I couldn’t in good conscious have that conversation with him because I’m your friend.”
“Oh.”
Melody wasn’t sure what she thought much less felt about that development. Grant was tenacious. Part of the reason she’d tried breaking up with him when she had was because the team put a natural buffer between them.
He was trying though. There was a difference between the him of now and the him of a few days ago. He was no longer telling her what they could be. He’d listened.
Merida spoke slowly. “I really think he wanted help. I think if I’d given him any ideas he’d have run with them. It sounds like he’s really crazy about you, in a good kind of crazy. You really sure you want to break up with him?”
“I don’t know.” Melody flopped back on the bed. “Just when I think he could change, he shows me he hasn’t, then he surprises me.”
“That’s two positives and a negative. The pros are winning.”
“Is it enough though?” She stared at the popcorn ceiling.
“You’re the only person who can decide that.”
“You have an opinion though. I can hear it in your voice.”
“I do.”
“And?”
“And I think you should give your relationship with him one more chance.” Merida’s voice went all wistful.
Melody couldn’t help but smile. Her friend might play the tough bitch role, but deep down Merida was just like any other woman. “I’m not sure I’m going to get a choice about giving him another chance.”
“See?” Merida said. “You sound hopeful. So, have hope. That’s not a bad thing.”
“Maybe.” Melody heaved a sigh.
A knock at the door halted her thoughts. She pushed herself to her feet and hobbled toward the door, her muscles protesting.
“One sec,” she mumbled to Merida and cracked the door open.
Grant stood on the other side. He held a paper sack cradled against his chest. He was still wearing the slacks and button down rolled up to his elbows.
Those forearms.
They made her mouth go dry.
Grant’s brows rose and his gaze flicked to her phone.
“Mel? Melody?” Merida called out.
Melody stared up at him. “Uh, yeah, sorry, Merida. I’m going to have to call you tomorrow, okay?”
“He’s there, isn’t he?” Merida cackled a laugh. “Have a good night. Later!”
Melody didn’t get a goodbye out before Merida was gone.
“Merida?” Grant asked.
“Yeah.” Melody let the door open a bit more. “What’s up?”
“May I come inside?” he asked.
A few of the new recruits slid past Grant on the landing outside her second floor room, reminding her that there were quite a few people who lived on site and were around to overhear whatever they said. She did not want to have any conversation out here.
“Sure.” She stepped back and allowed him entry. “Everything okay?”
Melody hadn’t seen Grant since they arrived, which she thought odd, but hadn’t spent too much time pondering. Now she wondered if she should have.
Where had he been?
He set the paper bag down next to her purse then turned to face her.
For a moment they just looked at each other, the air growing charged with electricity and more than a little hope.
“I was hoping we could hang out. Just for half an hour?” Despite his strong delivery his body betrayed him. Grant rubbed his palms on his slacks and there was a little wrinkle on his brow.
“I guess. What’s in the bag?”
“I brought you a few things.” He reached inside and pulled out a familiar plastic bag. “I had to run into town and I thought since you were still stuck here I’d grab a few things for you.”
He pulled out three very familiar boxes.
Her face wash.
A new bottle of toner.
And the moisturizer she’d recently switched to. She’d started using it maybe a week or two ago. And he’d not only noticed, he remembered.
The thoughtfulness of the gesture was surprising. She stared at the coveted boxes, her knees going a little weak. What did she say to that?
He set the items down then reached into his bag of tricks.
What else did he have?
“Then I thought you might want a drink and some junk food,” he said.
He pulled out an assortment of snacks, some small bottles of watermelon liquor and cans of Sprite. She couldn’t remember ever telling them that these were her go-to junk foods, but he’d known. Because even when she hadn’t thought he was paying attention to her, he had been.
She swallowed down the lump of emotion in her throat.
Maybe Merida was right? Maybe she should give them another shot.
GRANT KNEW HE WAS deviating from their routine. Until this op, they’d been strict about keeping a distinct line between professional and personal time. But even that personal time had set expectations. They did specific activities, almost always followed by sex.
The long flight had given him plenty of time to think about that fact. The bedrock of their relationship was built on a couple hate fucks. They hadn’t particularity liked each other in the beginning, but after they’d been together it changed.
He liked sex with Melody, but he also liked her as a person.
It was time they did something else. Started a new routine. And for that, he had a plan.
“Mind if I sit?” he asked.
Melody gave her head a little shake then glanced around the room. There was a desk chair or the bed.
“Sure.” She gestured at the mattress.
“Want a drink first?”
Melody perched on the edge of the bed, staring at him with a kind of shocked expression. He’d surprised her. Good.
“I’d like that, yes,” she said.
Grant knew these rooms well. He’d lived here for about six months while he was sorting out his future with Aegis Group. Each room had a unit that supported a microwave, housed a coffee machine, mini fridge, and had four cups, plates, bowls, and a smattering of utensils. He grabbed two glasses and mixed up the sprite and watermelon liquor. He’d prefer a beer, but hadn’t wanted to push his luck.
“I also got those pajamas you like. You didn’t have the...uh, narwhale print, did you?” He capped the liquor and turned toward the bed.
Melody was still staring at him with a funny look on her face.
“What?” he asked.
“You got me pajamas?”
“Yeah.”
“And face wash?”
“Yes,” he said slowly.
“And toner and moisturizer?”
Shit. Now he began to sweat a bit. “Was that the wrong thing to do?”
“No. I’m just surprised is all. I wouldn’t have expected you to know what face wash I use.” A small smile curved her lips.
“That’s just it.” He handed her one of the drinks. “You don’t talk much. You’ve never told me much, but I was paying attention. I got to know you through little things.”
“face wash and pajamas?” She lifted her glass.
He clinked his cup against hers. “Yeah, I guess so.”
They both sipped the fizzy, fruity drink. He wasn’t completely confident about his plan, but it appeared that he had done something right.
Grant toed of
f his boots then crawled up on the bed to sit with his back against the wall much like Melody was doing. He took a deep breath and felt much of the strain from the last week leech away.
“Some week, huh?” He lifted the glass and drank again.
She turned her face and looked at him. “That’s an understatement. You think they believe us? About Ethan and the Lebanese and all of it?”
“There isn’t a reason not to. They might not want to accept that’s what happened, but we all have to face reality here. Whoever did this shit to Ethan wants him back.”
“Have you seen him? Since Beirut, I mean?”
“No. You?”
“No. I’d just wondered if you knew something we didn’t.”
He stared at her. “I’d have told you.”
Melody shifted, not meeting his gaze, and drew her legs up under her.
“I would have, Mel. You got to believe me.”
She lifted her gaze and looked at him. “I do, I guess I’ve just always wondered if we were really honest, you know?”
Her question hit home. How many times had he wondered the same thing?
“Yeah.” Grant nodded and lifted his glass. “Let’s make a pact, for as long as we work together we don’t keep secrets about work stuff. No matter what happens between us.”
“Deal,” Melody said without hesitation.
Once more they clinked glasses and sipped.
Grant was done talking about work, stressing about keeping them alive, or what the next threat might be. No, he wanted to discuss normal stuff. He’d asked for a half hour. He wanted to spend what was left of it talking about her.
“You’ve never told me much about your family,” he said by way of changing the conversation.
Melody tilted her head to the side. “No, I guess I haven’t.”
“I know you have a sister. That’s about it.” He’d seen photographs at her apartment, but she’d never offered up commentary about them.
“What do you want to know?”
“What’s there to tell?” He reached over, placing his hand on her knee for a moment. “I want to know everything. Whatever you’re willing to share.”
Her smile changed, growing warmer. “Okay, well, Mom and Dad were childhood sweethearts. They grew up in the same apartment building, fell in love. I think they bonded because most of the kids they grew up with were first generation Americans while they were third and fourth generation.”
“That makes that much of a difference?” he asked.
“It did for them and I could see it, too. Or family is very American despite our Korean ancestry. My mom has more in common with suburban housewives than she does with people who look like us. But that’s because we were lucky and fortunate.”
“What did they think about you becoming a cop?” he asked slowly, fully aware he could be walking into a mine field after the other day.
One side of Melody’s mouth quirked up. “They weren’t crazy about it. My mother’s very proper. She hardly ever yelled at us, but that day was the only day in my whole life she yelled at me in Korean.”
“They didn’t like it?”
“Of course they didn’t.” Melody gestured to herself. “I don’t look like what you expect a cop to look like. But I had a plan.”
“I bet you did.” Grant chuckled. He could always count on her to have something lined up if he didn’t.
“I thought I wanted to be a hostage negotiator.” Melody stared into her cup. “One came and talked to us when I was in middle school and she was like this real-life superhero that didn’t need powers or size...”
Grant held his breath and watched Melody stare off into space. She was damn smart and could have done anything she wanted, but she’d chosen to do something that helped people.
“Unfortunately for me I learned very quickly that the job takes a lot out of you. During my first year I had an above average save rate. I got better, figured out how to talk to people, but it kept happening. No matter how good I was, these things kept happening. I burned out. I’m not proud of that. I made a lot of mistakes, namely letting the job get too personal. In the end, I had to do something else.”
“And then you wound up here. Your mom must love that?”
Melody’s smile was swift and unexpected. “She does, actually.”
“Really? I’d have thought she’d like you working a desk more.”
“She did, in the beginning. But it was slowly killing me.”
“How’d Zain find you? Or did you find him?”
“Zain contacted the recruiter I’d worked with previously. I’d just sent an email to him about possibly looking into other career paths. He got us together and the rest happened fairly quickly.”
Grant grimaced. “I was an ass back then. I took Zain hiring you personally.”
“It wasn’t, you have to know that.”
“I know what he said, that he was spending too much time coddling clients so I could work. It just didn’t seem that way to me, you know?”
Melody scooted a little closer. “You’re too hard on yourself. You take responsibility for things you can’t possibly control.”
“Yeah.” He nodded. “I know.”
“And Zain could have handled things better, it just happened so fast.” She reached out and took his hand.
Grant squeezed her back. He was beyond caring about Melody being part of his team now, he was more concerned with how to keep her. This conversation was perhaps the most personal she’d ever been with him. He’d like to think this was the way things should have been all along.
“What do you think they’re going to have us do tomorrow?” she asked.
“Hm?” Grant glanced up, aware he’d been caught daydreaming. “Oh. Well, this is a sticky situation. I don’t honestly know why we’re here. That wasn’t really what I was thinking about until you mentioned it.”
“What were you thinking about?” Melody narrowed her gaze.
Did he tell her? Should he be that real?
They were in this situation because they’d held back. He wasn’t going to do that anymore.
“I was thinking about how I could maybe convince you to give me another chance. Once we knew Vaughn was fine and we were headed straight to Chicago, there wasn’t much for me to think about. The big boss would have everything figured out, which left...you.”
One side of her mouth quirked up. “face wash and pajamas? That’s what you came up with?”
“Yeah.” He swallowed. Was that lame? Should he have gone with flowers? Something more romantic?
Melody leaned over and kissed him. It was a brief, quick meeting of lips, but it confirmed that somehow he had managed to not fuck this up. He’d finally made the right call.
During the flight he’d outlined a few plans in his head. Romancing and winning Melody’s heart was going to be a campaign. He’d lost the first half because he hadn’t understood her. Now he knew what he’d done wrong.
He gave her hand one last squeeze then let go. “I’ll get out of your hair so you can get some rest.”
“Wait.” Melody’s hand tightened on his. For a moment they stared at each other. Her mouth opened and closed a few times. “About us?”
He stroked her knuckles and glanced down at their joined hands. “I know what I did wrong, and I hope you’ll give me a chance to show you I can do better. Mel, this isn’t just about sex, you know that, don’t you?”
“I didn’t,” she said slowly.
“We both messed this up. You held back. I didn’t ask, I didn’t show you I was interested. We didn’t give this a fair shot.”
“You’ve sure changed your tune from, you will not break up with me,” she said dryly followed by a chuckle.
“Hey, I’ll admit that wasn’t the best reaction.” He held up a hand. “I do learn from my mistakes though.”
Melody stared at him, her brow and mouth wrinkled up. She wasn’t convinced. “I want to believe you. I want you to prove me wrong.”
“What’s
holding you back?” he asked out of frustration.
“Me.” She ducked her head. “I have a type. I like assertive personalities, strong men. Men like you. In my experience, men don’t change much. You are who you are.”
“You could say that of any human being. Are women really that much more inclined to change?”
“I think so.”
“What if you aren’t the one who needs to change? What if it’s me?”
“Then we’re back to where this began. No one should have to change themselves. You can’t fall for who someone could be or who you want them to be. You have to fall for who they are.”
“I hear what you’re saying, but I think there’s room in there for improvement. The only thing that’s changing is how we approach us. That’s not a fundamental personality change. That’s...learning how to do something better. Give us one more chance.” He knew he needed to prove himself to her, that he’d failed a test he hadn’t known he was getting. “Face wash and pajamas?”
12.
Saturday. Aegis Group Headquarters, Chicago, Illinois.
Melody stared at Grant, her heart doing cartwheels while her head tried to be reasonable.
Her brain was losing.
Grant had listened to her. He’d just shown her he knew more about her than she’d given him credit for, and all that had taken was one paper bag. It took real self-control to not just throw herself at him and tell him she loved him.
But was he telling her the truth? Did he intend to change? Or was this a bait and switch? Would things go back to the way they’d been once this was over?
“It’s up to you, Button. You are right, I can’t tell you what to do and I don’t get to make the final decision about us. You do. Selfishly,” he smiled a bit, but it didn’t reach his eyes, “I want this to work out. But seeing as how much of an idiot I’ve been I’m not entirely sure I deserve that chance.”
Her throat was completely dry. She couldn’t speak. His words undid her.
He wasn’t doubling down, telling her how things were going to be anymore. He’d listened. He’d heard her. All while she’d been part of creating that problem.
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